


Twisted Make a Braid

by Darkwolves602



Category: Pyre (Video Game)
Genre: Caves, Cold Weather, Comfort, F/F, Female Friendship, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 21:04:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12218928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkwolves602/pseuds/Darkwolves602
Summary: In the wake of the first Liberation Rite, the Reader sits alone in the Blackwagon and decides she needs  time away before she succumbs to some form of wagon induced cabin fever. Wagon fever.





	Twisted Make a Braid

The first of the Liberation Rites was complete. And with its conclusion the Blackwagon felt strangely empty.

It was the night before their next began Rite and the Reader sat alone in the Blackwagon. Despite the cold outside each member of the group had gone their separate ways in their preparations for their next Rite.

The Reader, dressed in her long white hooded robes which cast a deep shadow across her young features and her long brown hair, knew she needed air. She knew, despite the freezing temperatures outside, she needed to get away before she succumbed to some form of wagon induced cabin fever. Wagon fever.

Tightening her robes around herself she reached out and eased open the door of the Blackwagon, the sudden in wash of cold air causing her to momentarily question the sanity of leaving the safety of the wagon in such weather. The Reader chose to endure it, she needed to get away at least for a while.

Stepping out onto the ice capped tundra of the Murr Pass, a frozen peninsula stretched beneath the shadow of Mount Alodiel, the Reader clutched her cloak to herself to stave off the biting cold. She heard the regular crunch of the fallen snow with each step across the open ground. While the snow-capped peak shield them from the worst of the chill blowing in from the north the air was still intensely cold. While her hardy companions seemed to have developed their own methods of enduring such extreme conditions she knew she could not safely bear this for long before she was forced to return to the warm embrace of the Blackwagon.

Rounding the tip of a rocky outcropping she was surprised to see a faint flicker of light emanating from a cave further along the shore. Her innate curiosity, the same one that had contributed to her being sent here in the first place, spurred her to investigate.

Reaching the mouth of the cave the Reader felt an inviting heat radiating out from inside. Stepping into the cave itself the all-consuming chill was replaced by a warm glow spreading across her body in waves. Just past the mouth of the cave, dominating the main cavern beyond, was assembled a roaring campfire and around it sat Jodariel, Jodi, her back propped against the cavern wall. In her hand she had a small utility knife and was whittling away at a piece of wood in her other hand.

“May I sit with you?” the Reader asked.

Jodi glanced up from her work. “As you wish” she replied flatly.

While Jodi might have expected her to find some place around the campfire instead the Reader plopped unceremoniously into Jodi’s open lap. The toned muscle of her legs made an uncomfortable seat but the Reader didn’t mind. She had to admit that in the beginning she had found Jodi rather intimidating. But now all those things that made her seem so scary, her size, her brashness, her ability to deliver pain in a variety of ways using only her bare hands suddenly became a great comfort.

The Reader pulled back her hood to let loose her long brown hair, leaning back to nestle against Jodi’s chest. While the Reader was taller than average she was as nothing compared to Jodi. Jodi had removed and laid aside her armoured chest plate, the press of the metal having only exacerbated the near freezing temperatures. One of the few things that the Reader had learnt about Josie since she arrived here was that they shared an innate distaste for cold temperatures. For Jodi, this arose from her time spent patrolling the arid plains and dusty canyons that made up the Bloodborder, the barely hospitable and vulnerable divide separating the Commonwealth from the lands ruled by the Harpies watching as she worked.

Jodi resumed her work, shaving away at the pieces of wood with each pass of her knife as the Reader sat in her lap to watch.

“I used to make them for the children” Jodi said. “Little figurines of soldiers, Harpies, animals to play with” Jodi said.

Although it was only a vague outline, the Reader already recognised a tribute to their favourite Curr. Despite his small stature Rukey Greentail always had the ability to make his presence known. Now all that was left was Rukeys family picture to keep his memory alive. “You miss him too?” the Reader asked.

“You don’t go through something such as this with someone and not end up missing them when they’re gone” Jodi said. “But to answer your question, yes, I miss him”

The Reader hadn’t known Rukey for as long as Jodi or Hedwyn, but she still knew a lot about him from the time they spent together. “He’s probably back with his Mama now”

Jodi’s movements slowed with each repeating pass. “Is it true what they say, that when we return to the Commonwealth our crimes will be abolished?” Jodi asked. “I sometimes wonder what it’s like up there. What’s changed” Jodi’s gaze lowered to stare into the flickering flame, her voice low and soar. “How I’ve changed”

“What do you think you would do on the other side?” the Reader asked in an attempt to revitalise Jodi from her sudden onset of melancholy.

“Join the resistance, train their militia, start a workshop making kids toys” Jodi joked. “What about you?”

“Help the resistance however I could, then return to my books” the Reader let out a soft giggle. “I’m sure you’d find all that incredibly dull”

“I’m sure I could trust you to recommend something worth reading” Jodi said.

As the Reader sat in her lap she saw Jodi’s braid of sand gold hair dangling in front of her face. The Reader dared to reach out and grasp it tenderly between her fingers, idly twirling the delicate strands whilst ready to leap free of her lap if Jodi reacted. “I like your braid”

“It keeps my hair from falling into my eyes” Jodi said. “It performs its function”

“It doesn’t mean it can’t be pretty” the Reader said. “In a way, it’s just like us” the Reader cupped the long braid in her hand, stroking the length with her other hand as she would some small woodland creature. “As a single strand, we would never make it. But weave us together and we make a braid. Without Rukey, it’s like we’ve lost a strand”

“The pessimist would say that makes us weaker” Jodi said.

“And the optimist says it leads to the others to become strong to make up the difference” the Reader allowed the long braid to fall limply across her shoulder. Even sat facing the roaring fire the Reader continued to shiver at the cold breeze creeping in from the mouth of the cave. She was tall and lanky with barely any muscle or fat to really speak of, making her hardly built for such extreme conditions.

“Here” Jodi set her knife and her half-finished creation aside, drawing her arms up to wrap herself around the Readers comparatively lithe body.

Cocooned in Jodi’s arms the Reader could feel herself being consumed by hard muscle from all sides but beneath that was a gentle softness that very few ever experienced. Even though she was sure that Jodi could snap her in half from a boisterous hug the Reader still felt safe in her arms, the timid and the bold nestled together.

The Reader shifted in Jodi’s arms to place her head against Jodi’s chest, listening to the loud swell of her beating heart. The Reader had expected it to be coarser or harsher but her heartbeat felt calm and its presence was rhythmically soothing. The Reader suddenly felt like an infant nestled in her mother’s arms. She couldn’t really know for sure, growing up as an orphan she didn’t remember anything of her mother.

_So this is what it felt like._

“Do you think…” Jodi said. “Do you really think we’ll make it out of here?”

“Of course we will” the Reader nestled closer into Jodi’s chest, closing her eyes to let the warmth of her embrace wash over her. “Together”


End file.
